A well-regarded actor with a long and respectable career, he's largely stepped away from being in front of the camera in favor of becoming a highly-prolific television director. As a director, he is known for a highly economical shooting style that earned him the nickname of "Two Take Frakes" during the production of Star Trek: First Contact. Shows he's directed episodes of include:

He is the famed Trope Maker for Growing the Beard, because there had been a writers' strike between the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation he, erm, grew a beard during the unexpectedly extended break (see page photo): the facial topiary's presence at the script readthroughs for the second season was mere happenstance and he was planning on shaving prior to shooting, but Trek creator Gene Roddenberry felt it gave him a far more dignified appearance and decided to Throw It In! to his character's appearance too. The beard staying then coincided — and has become synonymous — with the show's generally-agreed development from something good into something great in the next year or two. All thanks to Frakes' face.

Frakes is a part of one of the longest-lived Hollywood marriages in the history of celebrity-dom. He and his wife, actress Genie Francis (of General Hospital fame, who he met while making North and South (Trilogy)) have been married for 29 years and counting.

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